I've read it in the paper and see it on the news of people arrested?

Question

When you hear or see these stories do you not automatically think that the person{s} arrested are guilty of the crime, even before a case goes to court.

Should not the press just describe the case and advise of an arrest without publishing names and showing pictures, prior to a conviction of an offense?

Answer 1

A person is innocent before proven guilty and just because the media tends to hype or exagerate these stories doesnt give the innocent their due process of the law. I think we all should keep an open mind about these people who get arrested and give them their day in court before we make any hasty accusations which would cause us to think this way.

Answer 2

Pretrial publicity definitely can be a problem, sometimes it can get pretty hard to pick a jury that hasn't formed some sort of opinion on account of it... Still the people have a right to know... Freedom of the press comes into play too...Tough call.

Personally I tend to form a negative opinion of the suspect especially it they're accused of a crime like child molestation.

Answer 3

I don't automatically think that a suspect must be a criminal, but I must admit in cases of rape and child abuse I tend to become biased because of the atrocity of such crimes.

I think there should certainly be more restraint in divulging lurid details of suspects' private lives before they their guilt is established. Remember the first suspect in the recent Ipswich serial murder case whose details and family circumstances had been splashed all over the tabloids,  but was freed and found to have had no involvement after the real offender had been caught? The same was true a few months back of some suspected terrorists who turned out to be entirely innocent. Mud sticks, and people will now look askance at them despite the fact that they were found to be innocent.

Plus, a high level of media coverage at the time could influence any the result of future trials.

Answer 4

yes, i tend to think of the person as guilty.